It is known that polyurethane-ureas having good-to-poor properties can be prepared by reacting isocyanate prepolymers with diamine chain extenders and that the properties obtained are at least partly dependent on the particular prepolymer/chain extender combination used in their preparation. A disadvantage of known polyurethane-ureas is that even those which have otherwise satisfactory properties are too hard to be useful in applications where resilience and flexibility are required. In attempts to reduce the hardness, prepolymers of lesser isocyanate content (greater amounts of polyol in the prepolymer) may be used. However, processing is difficult (high temperatures are required to reduce the viscosity of the prepolymer) making this a commercially unattractive option for many urethane-urea users.
An object of the present invention is to provide polyurethane-ureas having improved dynamic properties making them useful in forming coatings, rollers, sheets, and the like.
A further object of the present invention is to provide processes for preparing polyurethane-ureas of enhanced load bearing capability while maintaining polymer hardness and flexibility.
These and other objects are attained by reacting an aromatic diamine with an aromatic diisocyanate prepolymer having a free --NCO content of 0.1-20% by weight the prepolymers are produced by reacting a mixture of from about 65% to about 35% by weight of a alkyl-substituted 2,4-aryl diisocyanate and from about 35% to about 65% by weight of a alkyl-substituted 2,6-aryl diisocyanate with a polyalkylene ether glycol.